02 Aug 2020 02:55:40
Wafa trade Matthews
LA trades Kopitar, 1st (2nd)
We draft Byfield with the pick obviously. Kopitar is a good player still and should have a bit of a resurgence on the Leafs. But Byfield is the prize. Tavares and Kopitar handle the top two lines for a couple years until Byfield busts onto the scene and can take over top line duties as undisputed 1C. He's from the area too, so would rather have him as our next captain in waiting than Matthews.
02 Aug 2020 12:29:46
La says no
Matthews is injury prone
Like Mark schreddies of the Jets.
02 Aug 2020 12:47:53
I can see targeting the potential, but it’s hard to justify giving up matthews for so much uncertainty. What happens if Byfield amounts to nothing so all you get is a close to over the hill Kopitar? You would probably be asking for at least another first round pick or some kind of allotment of prospects or players to make the leafs consider the risk.
02 Aug 2020 15:21:26
Gotta do what you got to do. This trade would keep us competitive and give us plenty of time to develop Byfield. We won't have to throw him to the wolves like what Jersey did Hughes. It's a risk, sure, but it could be a major reward long term. Byfield gets 3-5 years on elc depending on his development. That gives us upwards of a decade to be competitive.
02 Aug 2020 15:57:47
It’s also difficult when you only save about a million in cap space because kopitar makes $10 million as well. I just don’t see enough reward for the risk for the leafs. Best case they are a little worse for the time being then when Byfield is ready kopitar is basically done and grossly overpaid so you again are likely a little bit worse.
02 Aug 2020 16:14:29
If Kopitar's contract was shorter it would be a thought. I was thinking that is a big problem here too. We would have to bury Byfield for two years so his elc slides, then bring him up after to give us the three years it would take to the end of Kopitar's contact.
It would be risky. And in the end, probably does make us a bit worse short term unless Byfield turns into a stud right away, and it could do us worse long term too if Byfield doesn't work out as hoped.
Maybe if we got them to throw Turcotte in too? Lol. One of those guys is bound to be a stud.
02 Aug 2020 16:37:01
We would only need to bury Byfield one year actually. I read the chart wrong because they haven't moved up to next season yet. So I read 5 years, but since this season is over, there is only 4 years left on his contract.
I could see us burying him for a year. Especially with everything going on. When would he be playing his next game? He won't be able to make a seamless transition to the NHL if he hasn't had a chance to play between when the season shut down and November/ December when it's expected to possibly start up again (earliest estimates) .
02 Aug 2020 20:47:59
If you could save cap at the same time I would be more inclined to do this. Kopitar contract is just such a boat anchor. In a few years the guy just won't have much in him anymore.
02 Aug 2020 22:19:59
Big risk with Byfield
Put up great numbers in junior
Always skeptical how that translates to the nhl
Lol.
03 Aug 2020 01:17:03
It's one year too long if we were to bring Byfield in right away. If they buried him for a year and let his elc slide, it could work. Is Kopitar a $10M player still? Probably not. Will he be a good plug until Byfield is ready? Absolutely.
I got a fringe this Byfield is going to be the next Matthews anyway. Maybe not as prolific a goal scorer. But just as good in all other aspects. The way he came on strong this year was incredibly impressive. He was ranked high at the beginning of the season, but was not clearly 2nd overall. But he cemented that, and then some. There was even some talk he might go first overall. And indeed, if the team that wins the lottery decides they need a star centre, they might just go for Byfield before Lafrenniere. It would be a surprise, but not totally unexpected.
03 Aug 2020 02:26:23
Pretty sure we can all name 20 guys that did nothing with great juniors numbers @MPH lol.